New quilt exhibition at Upcountry History Museum showcases storytelling of holiday classic in cloth
October 30, 2025
Quilts and holidays are a perfect blend, and the Upcountry History Museum’s newest exhibition, “Sue Reich’s The Quilter’s Night Before Christmas,” will take visitors on a familiar yet unique journey through the time-honored holiday classic, “The Night Before Christmas.”
Opening Saturday, November 1, 2025, this exhibition features 29 hand-crafted story quilts that create a three-dimensional visual of the traditional poem from its first stanza, “‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house” to its last, “But I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight – ‘Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!’” and all the other memorable recollections in between.
Curated by award-winning quilter, author, historian and lecturer Sue Reich, this reimagined presentation of such an iconic holiday treasure gives new imagery to Clement C. Moore’s poem and his portrayal of St. Nicholas.
Created by quilters from across the United States, Reich was able to collect each quilter’s interpretation of a stanza of their choice as they stitched their vision of the holiday poem. Though retold in print, onstage, over the radio, or onscreen for more than 200 years, this extraordinary combination of colors, themes, stitches, and storytelling in cloth invites fans of the beloved holiday poem to experience it anew.
The colorful imagery and rhyming verses have stood the test of time and created a testament to the magic of this cherished poem’s lore. In “The Quilter’s Night Before Christmas,” visitors will not only be able to identify with those traditional aspects but also experience a more robust vision of how special this festive verse can be.
Making its first South Carolina appearance at UHM, this distinctively interpretive exhibition is on display November 1, 2025, through January 11, 2026.
The Upcountry History Museum is located at 540 Buncombe St., in Greenville, S.C. Hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Sunday from 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. For more information, call 864-467-3100 or visit www.upcountryhistory.org.
